


Reylo Week 2018 Collection

by Melusine11



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Blood, Colors, Dark, Destiny, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Minor Violence, Mythology - Freeform, Reylo Week 2018, Smuggler Ben Solo, Soulmates, Wounds, vampire rey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-04-30 13:21:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14497866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melusine11/pseuds/Melusine11
Summary: A collection of the stories I wrote for Reylo Week 2018.





	1. Finding Balance

**Author's Note:**

> I set out to challenge myself with my first Reylo week in attempting to write for all 7 days, which I'm super excited to say that I did, despite a power outage on Thursday. What follows will be all of them, safely in one place for your enjoyment and my peace of mind.
> 
> Thank you to the reylo community for just being wonderful people who made this week amazing, with their words and their art and graphics as well as giving my works some love. I am very much a newcomer to this community, and honestly, everyone I've met so far has been a delight.
> 
> Well, I've rambled long enough in this note - lets get to it  
> I will tag relevant things per chapter and the explicit chapter when we get to it, just for anyone who wants to skip it.  
> This one is for the prompt: Colors  
> No warnings.

When they first meet all she can focus on is the weapon in his hand. Sure, he’s imposing in all black and his mask, but it’s the red of his saber that she focuses on. The same saber she had just seen in a vision piercing through a chest in the rain as it threw everything into sharp relief.

Her own, though she has been reluctant to claim it, is blue. She can still recall the way it lit his unmasked features in the snow as they fought, the way it warped his spilled blood to a deep purple that borders on black.

The next time they fight, for a moment in time they fight together, for each other, for a promising future in a room raining fire and ash. She wields his weapon, feels the power pulsing from the crackling beam of red. He utilizes her own, intensity in his gaze as he ignites the blue saber that was built by his grandfather's hands.

It breaks.

All of it.

It takes months to rebuild, weeks to track down what she needs, days of construction and hours of meditation. She feels him there the whole time, presence lingering like a ghost even when the bond hasn’t linked them. She feels his curiosity at first, then later his frustration as she actively ignores him in favor of repairing her broken things. She thinks it’s only fair, since he refused to come home with her, until she notices he’s doing it too.

She studies and practices and sits in on meetings she’s doesn’t feel halfway qualified to be at, but more than that she waits. Waits for him. She isn’t ever sure if she’s waiting for him to come to her, or if she’s waiting to meet him in the middle of the battlefield on some far flung planet in the galaxy.

Neither of those things happen.

She’s on what she might generously call a pilgrimage after the war is done; but realistically is calling it: ‘if I go will you leave me alone?’ Or ‘the only way to shut up the force ghost of Anakin Skywalker.’ She’s standing on a balcony overlooking a lake. The palace -the island- is abandoned and showing signs of true disrepair, but, she thinks fleetingly, it’s probably the most beautiful place she’s ever visited. Even more lush and green than Takodana, she didn’t think that was possible.

Her saberstaff is in her hands and on, yellow blades burning bright, but she knows it’s too late. He’s already upon her.

She spins, lifting her weapon to meet his before blinking in surprise. Gone is the cracking red, instead replaced by an elegant purple. Her lips twist in a wry smile as he fails to hide his shock at finding her here - tangible and not a vision of their bond.

“That’s new.” She shifts, disengaging and switching off her weapon. She tilts her head and takes him in, he looks relaxed, despite finding an unexpected guest in the abandoned palace retreat of Varykino, standing where his grandparents wed. 

“It was time for a change,” he murmurs, switching off his own weapon as he moves to stand next to her, looking like he wants to lean on the balustrade, but also not wanting to risk tumbling into the lake.

“Suits you.” She takes in his half smile, almost hidden by the hair that falls just past his shoulders before turning back to face the lake, “your grandfather likes to meddle.” 

“So I’m coming to find out.” He takes a deep breath and finally braces himself on the railing. Rey doesn’t speak, just watches him take it all in, muses how in another lifetime, if events had unfolded differently he may have even grown up here, she wonders if they still would have met.

Kylo’s fingers reach out and brush hers tentatively, “we would have.” He answers and she feels his certainty thrum through the bond they share, feels the bond pulse lightly at their contact. She thinks back to the mosaic that still rests within the temple floor on Ahch-To. The Prime Jedi, she came to learn in her years spent deciphering the Jedi texts she stole away from the island. Balance. She doesn’t know if she could ever find true balance within herself, but here on this island taking in the brilliant orange and pinks of the sunset as they reflect on the lake she comes to a realization. She turns her hand over to twine her fingers through his as she muses that between the two of them; her light to match his darkness, and the darkness buried in her - there to match the light he’s tried to deny...Yes, Rey thinks, together they could find that grey area in the middle. Together they could find balance.


	2. In the Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day two prompt: Dark  
> or the one in which Rey embraces the darkness in her to pull off a rescue mission  
> Triggers for decapitation and mild violence. Some swearing.  
> The Knights of Ren make an appearance here and I take some minor liberties with a force ability.

Luke saw it in Rey on Ahch-To, and Rey went to meet it in the cave beneath the island. The pull was strong and tempting and Rey understood how easy it was to let it consume you, and she wondered how Ben had resisted it for so long. She had seen it, when they touched hands, the darkness woven around his light, Snoke’s presence that she didn’t yet recognize, seen how he had fought and fought and fought until that moment he woke up to Luke above him; then she watched him fall and fall and fall before seeing how it all could change.

The outcome of her going to him wasn’t what she had seen in their future. It all happened so quickly and for a fleeting moment Rey wondered if Snoke was truly as fearsome as he seemed inside of Ben’s mind; but no, it didn’t matter, he had been festering inside of Ben for too long and it didn’t matter how he looked to Rey. 

And then Rey and Ben let it all go to shit. Both too proud, too stubborn to give in and when Rey woke from the explosion she ran. 

When Leia passes on, several months after the battle on Crait, the Resistance is losing the little ground it fought hard to win. Poe steps up to be in charge and Rey can’t help but think how it’s a mistake. She’s seen Poe, he’s rash and slow to learn, but who else? They have no one else. Poe _knows_ though, Leia must have told him after Rey had rambled out the whole story of her bond with her son after too many failed attempts at fixing the saber they broke. Poe knows, and Rey sees the quiet distrust growing behind his eyes, and she worries even as The First Order seems to go underground.

It’s late when it happens. Finn comes stumbling into where she’s resting in The Falcon and tells her she needs to leave or Poe is going to put her on trial as a traitor. Rey is slow to understand, and when it clicks she feels the anger rise in her, steps towards Finn to argue that she is a _Jedi_ , but it means nothing when you’re the only one, and not even a trained one. A bond with the Supreme Leader is too much of a risk to the Resistance. Chewie refuses to stay, even as Finn urges him to. Roars as he pushes Finn from the ship so that they can leave. Rey ignores the tears in her friends eyes as she hits the button to raise the ramp, and pushes the thought that this is the _second_ time she’s had to do this from her mind.

There is yelling in the ship bay, but they’re already in the air and Rey stumbles as Chewie jettisons them into hyperspace as soon as they’re clear. She thought she knew how it felt to be alone in that cave, but here in the belly of a ship she’s come to call home, surrounded by the quiet noises of the engines and the cooing of the porgs, she feels it in a new way when the walls of the bond crumble and there’s no answer. 

They set a course to Corellia - new strong hold of The First Order - despite protests from the Wookie, who makes a play for traveling to Kashyyk. Rey knows she would love it, oceans and forests and homes in trees, but she can’t go. She doesn’t sleep, she doesn’t have time, instead she meditates on throwing herself against the walls of the bond Kylo had put up to keep _her_ out. She knows she deserves it, she did the same to him, but it still stings, deep in her soul.

She squeezes her eyes shut and lets the tears fall. She had hoped, naively, that he would be there waiting for her, but maybe she had waited too long. She stands quickly and begins to pace, worrying at her bottom lip, second guessing her hastily made plan to save her friends and prove Poe wrong. At some point she _must_ fall asleep, because she’s being roused by an agitated wookie in her face and finally makes out the words ‘trapped’ and ‘tractor beam’ and Rey is awake.

They wait. Rey is armed with nothing but the force and Chewie glides a finger along the side of the trigger on his bowcaster as a porg perches on his shoulder. When the door is forced open there are no stormtroopers waiting, just a handful of beings outfitted in helmets and black with the open maw of an abandoned star destroyer behind them, and Rey knows immediately they’re the Knights of Ren.

“Rey of Jakku. We have been waiting for you.” Rey is mildly surprised to hear a woman's voice filter through the mask and they step towards one another. “You were almost too late.”

“I beg your pardon?” Rey asks, stomping down the ramp to look up at whoever is before her.

“Follow us. The Wookie stays.” The same Knight says, and Rey reaches out through the force and immediately gets an answer.

Rey turns to look at her friend, giving him a weak smile before turning to follow the Knights.

“How did you find me?” Rey asks, glancing between her escorts. She had only ever seen them a handful of times, once in her own vision and then again in his memories.

“We have been trying to reach you for several days, and I personally have been trying to trace your signature in the force at the likely points of system entrance from where you were.”

“You can do that?” Rey asks, and hears the awe that laces her tone.

“ _I can_ , yes.” Rey watches as she removes the helmet from her head and turns to Rey with a smirk. “I am Shoaneb.” She holds out a hand and Rey takes it for a moment. “My appearance surprises you little scavenger.” Her head tilts to the side as if to observe Rey better, but Rey cannot understand how. There is a band of black fabric tight across her upper face. “You have seen much of the galaxy pass through your little place on Jakku, but you have never met a Miraluka. This doesn’t surprise me.” She turns quickly. “Come. I will explain when this is over. Now that you are here, we will not have much time. Half of the plan has already been set in motion.”

The pace picks up and Rey is pushed onto a tie silencer. “The others?” Rey asks, realizing they’re alone and this woman intends to pilot a ship blind.

“You worry too much. Didn’t Master Luke teach you to trust in the force?” Shoaneb starts the ship with practiced ease and Rey can feel her amusement ripple through the force. “I imagined you to be more inquisitive. Surely you have questions.”

“A million of them.” Rey answers, now watching in awe as she pilots the ship towards their destination.

“You haven’t asked where he is.” Rey can hear the disapproval in her tone but she doesn’t have time to argue because Shoaneb is throwing something at her. “Supreme Leader Kylo Ren has been charged with treason and is set to be executed in -” Rey and Shoaneb glance at the chrono perched on the control panel. “Less than thirty standard minutes.” Rey jolts and stares down at the object in her hands, letting her fingers trace the exposed wires before they curl around the hilt. 

“What if I didn’t make it?”

“He would likely die, possibly escape but suffer critical injuries. The connection between the two of you is stronger than I realized.”

“No,” Rey sighs. “We’ve been cut off from each other for months now.”

“Yes, but the force doesn’t care about the silly walls you might try to hide yourself away. You are nothing but a vessel, as we all are, to do the will of the force, and the force wills it that Kylo Ren lives. Can’t you feel it?”

“Maybe. Mostly I just feel like I could vomit.”

Shoaneb laughs. “Let me explain the plan.”

And that’s how Rey finds herself left on a roof, prying open a maintenance hatch as she waits for the signal. She had been told that the Knights had to all be accounted for. They would have front row views to their leaders execution. Shoaneb had gripped her arm tightly before she left Rey. “He is a weasel of a man, a coward. Make it count. Make him pay.” Rey had nodded, determination settling into her bones as she opened herself up to the force fully. She can feel him, right below her, his presence burning bright and soothing her like a balm. She will save him.

The newly self appointed Supreme Leader, Amitage Hux, was droning on as Rey slithered into the building, landing on a catwalk above a stage. A Theater. She could have only ever dreamed of being in a place so grand. It’s a pity she can’t stay. She sees him there, kneeling center stage, bound in force restrictive tech and stripped of all of his armor, clad in nothing but a grimy tunic and pair of pants. He looks small, Rey decides, and feels hysteria bubble up within her. She swallows the laugh building and breathes in as she leaps forward above the stage. Luke had warned her against the dark before, but she lets it greet her like an old friend now, knowing she will need to harness the full power within the force to get the timing right.

“Any last words, Ren?” She hears Hux ask as her eyes flick towards the sea of people spectating. She spots a Knight with his head tilted towards her and she sees him shift, body preparing for the pending battle. She nods quickly, eyes moving back to watch the scene unfolding directly below her with Hux, Kylo and an executioner stormtrooper, armed only with a blaster.

“Go fuck yourself, Hux,” Kylo spits.

The blaster fires, but Rey is ready, her hand moving before the troopers does. The shot goes wide as the weapon in ripped from his hands to fly into the crowd. She drops as it happens, pushing hard with the force to throw the trooper bodily so she doesn’t land on him. Hux is fumbling at his belt when she lands next to him, Kylo’s saber ignited now in her hands. His eyes grow wide even as all of the color drains from his face in the second just before she swings and lops his head off, sending it tumbling down to the stage where it lands with an echoing thump before rolling away as his body topples over. She can hear the shocked silence before all hell breaks loose and she throws up a shield she didn’t even know she could produce to block blaster fire as she spins to meet the executioner with a deadly blow. 

Safe, for the moment while Kylo’s knights fight for his life in front of them, Rey turns the saber off to kneel in front of him. He is shaking as her fingers find his face and tilt it up to hers. She lets her thumb trace the line of his scar that she branded him with and he releases a shuddering breath as he takes her in.

“I’m sorry.” They speak over one another and Rey laughs as she presses her forehead against his. “I’m sorry.” She repeats, closing her eyes. She feels his jaw clench under her palms and she pulls back.

“You’re here.” He whispers when her eyes meet his again and she nods. He shifts his body and Rey remembers that he is bound. 

She leans around him to look at the cuffs around his wrists before grunting as she stands up. “I can’t get those off of you right now,” she grumbles, pulling him up before summoning his saber to her hand once more. “We can worry about that later.” She grabs his elbow. “This way.” She leads them around the fallen body of Hux and towards the pre planned exit where speeders would be waiting.

The knights tumble out after them and one that’s almost as tall as Kylo deactivates the cuffs. “We need to hurry. Miche fucked up the detonation sequence so we have less time to get out of here than anticipated.”

“The _what?!_ ” Kylo shouts, even as he’s shoved onto a speeder, another knight boarding behind him.

“We can talk about it later when we aren’t about to be razed with a city block.”

“I’m driving.” Rey grins up at Shoaneb and the woman barely has time concede before Rey hits the throttle to dart ahead of the group. Shoaneb screams in Rey’s ear before she starts laughing and yelling something at the group of knights at the back that Rey doesn’t make out as she banks hard around a corner.

“You’re breaking speeding laws!”

“I think speeding laws will be the least of our concern in the morning!”

They make it to where the tie silencer is waiting and dismount from the speeders. Two of the knights sprint ahead to get them into the air as the rest of them hover around Kylo as he walks on board and tries to wave them away.

They all turn back as the earth rumbles beneath their feet and Rey turns to watch the blast shoot above the rooftops.

 _Rey_. His voice tumbles through her mind and she turns back to find he is the only one waiting as the other retreat deeper into the ship. She takes the last few steps into the ship and the ramp lifts behind her. _Rey_. He repeats, and this time she thinks it’s just because he can when she sees a corner of his mouth twitch. 

“Come on, you look like you need sleep,” she says and he lets her take his hand in his and Rey feels the force surge around them the way it did in her hut on Ahch-To, and she knows that the vision she saw back then isn’t out of reach after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I stole the name of Shoaneb from an actual Miraluka who exists in the SW Legends Universe. You can read about her [here](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Shoaneb_Culu) if you want. She's nothing like the character here, but she is pretty awesome.


	3. Don't let me go, we'll be alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here be the smut folks. Pretty tame, all things considered - smut with feelings - super soft.
> 
> super big thanks to [thewayofthetrashcompactor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriarLily/pseuds/thewayofthetrashcompactor) for looking this one over for me

He wakes with a shuddering breath and tears building in his eyes before he registers what woke him. His abdomen twitches as Rey scrapes her fingernails gently across his skin. He exhales slowly and tries to relax as he traces the line of her arm.

With gentle movements, he turns towards her, and she shifts, arm curling around him more fully, leg pushing to rest between his even as she snores. He still dreams of him sometimes when his body is restless and sleep is hard to come by. Phantom whispers of unworthiness that sometimes come with the memory of lighting. When it isn’t Snoke, he dreams of his father and it’s a different kind of painful dream. It seems though, that the bond that exists between he and Rey is no match for his nightmares, if even in sleep she can pull him from them.

His thumb rubs lazy circles on her shoulder as his other hand splays across the expanse of her lower back, pinky and ring fingers drifting below the sheet that rests low on her hips.

“Ben,” Rey whispers, pushing against him as his lips brush against her forehead.

“Go back to sleep,” he soothes, running fingers through her sleep-mussed hair before huffing out an amused noise when her lips alight against his chest and her arm around him tightens.

“You were having a nightmare,” she mumbles against his skin before pulling back to look at him properly. “I could feel it.”

“I’m okay.” Ben knows that his smile is barely a twitching of his lips as he moves again, aligning himself more fully against her. Rey sighs and tilts her head up to press kisses against his jaw. He sighs against her hair and lets his eyes fall shut to just let himself feel. His hand moves, cups her ass and squeezes. He hisses quietly when she bites his skin to retaliate before she laves her tongue over the mark to soothe it.

“You sure you’re okay?” she asks, pulling away moments later to let her eyes roam over his face.

“Yes,” he whispers, brushing his consciousness against hers, letting his assurance flow through their bond as he slides his nose against the slope of hers to capture her lips in a soft, sleepy kiss. He feels her lips smile against his as her hands find purchase in his hair, keeping him against her when he goes to pull away.

Stay with me, Ben, she pushes across the bond, disentangling her leg from his to wrap around his waist. He lets himself fall further against her, a soft moan escaping from both of them.

Always, is his answer. Every time she asks, he’s powerless to deny her, but he knows its a path they both travel together. Hard fought, and hard won, a journey that had taken almost a year to arrive at this point, but he wouldn’t change a thing, not when he can elicit such noises from her with the softest of touches against her skin.

She bites at his lower lip and pulls lightly before inhaling sharply as he rolls them. A quiet laugh escapes her as he moves down her body, lips finding a home on her neck, her breasts, her stomach, her pussy. Rey gasps, his name falling from her kiss-reddened lips as she pushes her fingers back into his hair and he wraps his hands around her thighs. She sighs his name as she comes undone under the ministrations of his mouth and then she is pulling him back up her body.

Rey smiles up at him as she lets her legs fall open wider so he can settle between them. Her thumb brushes his lower lip and he catches it, scraping his teeth against the pad of it before leaning down to kiss her again. She is soft beneath him, arching into his touch as he ghosts a thumb over a nipple before pinching it, eliciting a moan from her. She rolls her hips up into his. He groans, abandoning her mouth to pepper kisses along her cheeks as her hand wraps around his shaft.

“Rey.” He moans her name against her throat, bringing one hand down to grip her hip tightly, thrusting shallowly in her hand, shuddering when her thumb drifts up, teasing at his slit and smearing precum over him.

A leg hooks around his waist and pulls him in. She bites at his ear as she rubs his cock up and down her pussy, a keening whine escaping her throat when he pushes forward against her clit. “Rey, please.” He pants against her collarbone, leaving sloppy open-mouthed kisses against her skin. He whimpers when she aligns himself with him, rolling her hips to let the blunt head of his cock dip inside of her as she pulls her hand away.

It doesn’t matter, he thinks as he shifts beginning to thrust shallowly into her, how many times he has her like this. It will never feel like enough. He pulls back, dragging her other leg around him as he moves, lifting her slightly as he bottoms out inside of her. He pauses for a moment to take her in, her hair splayed over their pillows, a blush high on her cheeks, and her eyes blown wide as she looks down her body to where they meet. She thrusts up against him and he curls his hands tight around her, halting her movements. Rey pouts but stills against him as a deluge of images and feelings flows through the bond. He shudders when she sighs and he feels her acceptance and love and need as she pushes back what she wants, her thoughts a rambling circle of ‘please, please, please.’

Ben smirks down at her before giving her what she wants. He fucks into her hard and deep and can’t hold back a moan when her hands creep down her body, one stopping to pinch and tease at her nipples while the other presses against her stomach, against him. “Fuck, Rey.” The heel of her hand presses in further as her fingers stretch down to circle her clit. “That’s it, wanna feel you cum all over me.” He moves, pushing a hand against her mouth as her incoherent babbling grows in volume. He knows Finn and Rose share their wall and Ben isn’t in the mood to hear complaints about their sex life over breakfast. She screams as she shatters, her whole body going taut against him, cunt clamping down tight around him as she spasms. Rey’s hands reach for him and pull him tight against her as his thrusts become erratic. He bites the side of her breast as he finds his release in her. Rey combs her fingers through Ben’s hair as they lay together after, sweating and panting. She whimpers softly when he withdraws from her.

“I love you,” he breathes against the mark he left on her, fingers skating up her sides, huffing a laugh as she squirms when it tickles.

“I love you too.” She turns, sliding down the bed to look at him. “You should get some more sleep.” She presses a kiss to his forehead before rolling from the bed and retreating to the fresher. He stares at the closed door for a moment before rolling to find the chrono. It’s late, or early. Ben sighs and drops down face-first into the pillows. Rey returns and tucks herself against his side. “We have four hours until we need to show our faces anywhere,” she mumbles into his shoulder, her fingers tracing patterns along his back. “Sleep, I’ll be here to chase the bad dreams away.”

Ben hums, turning just enough to peer at her with one eye. She smiles when she catches him and presses another kiss to his skin, murmuring soothing words against him as he falls asleep once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first ever full on smut I've ever written, and I still can't believe I did it.


	4. Rooftops and Raindrops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 4 - mythology - Vampire AU, featuring a vampire Rey and Human Kylo

A storm is coming; Rey can feel it prickle against her skin, can scent the ozone from somewhere far off as she passes through the drunken masses spilling from bars. She follows from a distance, always at a distance; doesn’t even need to see him anymore, so familiar she is with the beat of his heart and the scent of his skin.

It’s not like him to be out this late, the early hours of weekend mornings typically found him asleep - when he wasn’t alternating between binge watching shows and porn. She had been perched on the roof across from his building when he jogged down the stairs and took off at a brisk pace. Rey followed from above for a block before dropping down to an empty stretch of sidewalk as he passed through a park. Not that she was opposed to jumping through trees, but it tended to draw attention.

He turns into an alley several minutes after leaving the park and Rey walks past, always wary to not startle him. He is still walking. Rey sends out a strong wave of compulsion to the drunks around her before she scales the wall of the nearest building. They all ignore her, and the compulsion fades once she finds her footing on high.

She finds him again easily enough, darting through more alleys and doubling back and Rey finds herself scanning his path for someone else who might be following him. There is no one. Only her. Maybe she’s finally been caught, or maybe they’re both paranoid.

The building he comes to is nondescript, but the paint is peeling from it’s facade and it smells _off._ Rey cannot follow, so she settles in to wait for him to come back out. Whatever he does in there doesn’t take long, and then he’s tracing the route back home.

Rey prides herself of being careful, of not being caught, after all, she’s existed for nearly 300 years and the only time she got caught, it landed her in this mess. So when her foot catches on a loose roof tile she’s surprised, she’s doubly surprised when she makes a noise to accompany her fumbling. He stops walking to turn towards the sound - _towards her_ \- and for the first time since she first set her eyes on him two years ago he sees her, breath she doesn’t need catches in her throat.

“What are you doing up there?” A funny thing to ask in the middle of a moonless night, Rey thinks, but then again, Kylo Ren has always been a little bit funny. She flounders for an answer that isn’t immediately incriminating. “You’re following me.”

The fact that it isn’t a question at all makes Rey smile before dropping down in front of him. He looks shocked and she tells him so.

“How did you do that?”

“Anyone can jump.” Rey cants her head to the side, eyes drifting over his neck, tongue biting down gently on a sharp canine flooding her mouth with blood, quelling her need minutely. She can hear how quickly his heart is beating now, can smell the curiosity overlaid with fear leaking from him. “You don’t need to be afraid,” she soothes, eager to move towards him, to touch, to taste, to _take_. She stands still, looking far more relaxed than she feels.

“I’m not.” He crosses his arms in front of his chest and _oh,_ he’s a _delight._

“A pretty lie, from such a pretty mouth,” he gapes at her and Rey grins again, a flash of pointed teeth catching on her lower lip before he stumbles backwards away from her. “You don’t need to be afraid,” she repeats, “I promise I won’t hurt you or bite you.”

“This isn’t real,” he mumbles, running hands through his hair trying to still their shaking, “this can’t be real, this is a dream, it can’t be you.”

Rey watches him in wide eyed wonder as he paces the narrow width of the alley. She knows she should try to help him. Her body aches to soothe him in some way, but she’s sworn off using her thrall after experiencing disastrous results with it, and that’s not something she would ever try to use on _him_ anyway. She takes a deep, unneeded breath, and that’s when she smells it. Death and decay and the one scent that has haunted her, lingering somewhere just out of reach at all times, but always there. _Snoke_.

“Hey.” Rey interrupts his increasingly panicked mumblings. “I’m Rey.”

He halts mid-step to look at her again. “I beg your pardon?”

“My name,” she takes a small step towards him, a test, he doesn’t flinch and she smiles again, “is Rey.”

She doesn’t expect his short bark of a laugh, but his amusement rolls over her and she revels in it. “It’s a bit ironic, isn’t it?”

Rey lifts a shoulder. “I wasn’t born like this you know.”

“So you admit it.”

“Admit what?” Rey teases, walking around him now to leave as the first raindrops begin to fall.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

“It’s raining.”

“You really aren’t going to eat me?”

Rey rolls her eyes, “Would you like me to? I’d rather not.” _At least not the way you fear._

“Why, not good enough for you?” he taunts. Rey turns and is on him before he can blink again, pressing him up against the rough brick of the building; her hands twist into the leather of his jacket so quickly her nails pierce through it before she can catch herself. “Shit!” he winces away from her as she leans against him. “I was kidding, I’m sorry.”

She shifts so she’s standing on her tiptoes to better align herself with him and runs her nose along his neck before catching his earlobe with her mouth. “It’s the opposite,” she whispers, and feels his body shudder against hers, “you’re too good, something that’s better savored,” she drawls while she pulls away from him to find his eyes wide, initially she thinks it’s shock, but then she scents the arousal on him. “Come, you’re going to get all wet.” She tugs him forward and he obeys immediately, it’s so quick Rey worries that she might have accidentally activated her thrall, but no, this is something else.

“I’m Kylo,” he finally manages after a few moments, “where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe.” Rey growls, stalking forward through the rain. Snoke’s scent had been faint, but that building Kylo had been in had to be his. She didn’t even know he was back, and it spelled bad news for everyone, especially her, and Kylo moreso. She hoped that bastard didn’t scent her on Kylo, if he had, she knew he was just biding his time.

“Why should I even trust you to take me anywhere safe?” Kylo asks, taking steps away from her and towards his apartment when they made it out of the alley.

“You don’t have to,” Rey says with a shrug, “but that man you’re working for is bad news.”

“What are you talking - how long have you been following me?”

“Long enough. His name is Snoke, right?” Rey doesn’t even have to look at him to know she’s right, can feel him grow angry. “He’s not who you think, or _what_ you think.” She turns now, eyes as gentle as they can be with a circle of crimson red around the iris, “He’s what made me,” he frowns at this but she keeps talking, “and he’s going to do the same to you.”

“You don’t know that, I’ve barely met him, I just run odd jobs.”

“Don’t you feel it though?” Rey asks, “I always did, that I was meant to be _more_ somehow.”

“That’s a pretty standard human feeling.”

Rey shakes her head before sighing. “Come on, you’re going to get sick or something if you stay out in this.” She sees him shiver and she starts walking, “It’s easy to forget sometimes, what things feel like.”

“You can’t feel the rain?”

“I’m not sure if you’re asking obtuse questions because that’s just the way you are, or if you’re still in shock and denial about talking to a vampire.” Kylo grunts at this and Rey laughs. “Of course I can _feel_ the rain, it just doesn’t feel like anything, other than wet. There’s not temperature to it, it just exists.”

“Where are you from? Originally.”

“London.”

“So not a fake accent, then. How old are you?”

“I was twenty-six when I was turned, and that was 253 years ago.”

“Holy shit.” It’s a sharp inhalation of words and Rey rolls her eyes. “How many people have you killed?”

“Ugh, what a rude way to put it. More than one, enough to make you uncomfortable, but I don’t kill everyone I drink from.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s messy, because dead bodies draw questions, because it’s not super sustainable if I want to stay in one place for more than a handful of days, I have more reasons, you want those?”

“No,” he grunts and Rey eyes him long enough to watch him shove his hands in his pockets and almost sulk for the rest of the walk. They arrive at her building and she unlocks the door. “You live in a house?” he asks, hesitantly stepping inside.

“Figure that one all out on your own, did you?” She flips on the lights and tosses her keys into a small dish waiting by the door. “Take off your shoes, I’ll go get you a towel.”

“This all looks so normal.”

“We don’t _all_ live in crypts, just the deranged ones.”

When she comes back, he’s in the living room, looking at the art on her walls and she hands over a towel. Their hands touch, just a brush of willing contact and he stills, eyes going wide. Rey knows then, that he’s the one, she knew it when she first saw him, but now there’s no doubt in her mind, and she sees it reflected in his gaze, and it will bring ruin to Snoke, once and for all.

Kylos fingers catch hers again as he drops the towel to the ground. “What is this?” he asks, looking scared, and for the first time tonight, just a little bit hopeful.

“Don’t be afraid, I feel it too.” 


	5. One More Job

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 5: wounds
> 
> Mentions of guns, violence, and injuries.

He sits rigid on the bed as Rey works, she has one leg stretched out behind his back, while the other is tucked up - foot under her opposite thigh as her shin presses against him. He tries not to move, but she sighs and he turns to look down at her. Words rise in his throat, but he can’t bring himself to voice any of them.

“I’m really getting tired of doing this,” she mutters, twisting to put down the cleaning agents and exchanging them for a curved needle and thread.

“It’s almost over,” he says, but it’s a lie and they both know it, “just a few more jobs and I’ll be done.”

Rey’s lip curls and she jabs the needle into his skin with more force than is needed, just so he knows how upset she truly is. She stitches him up quickly, more than efficient after so much practice over the years. With a final light tug and the quiet noise of the scissor blades crossing against each other, it’s done. He just manages to catch the antiseptic gel and bandages she tosses at him before she stalks out of the room.

Ben finishes dressing the wound quickly and then takes his time packing up their extensive first-aid kit. He can hear Rey in the kitchen, slamming cabinet doors and pans onto the stovetop before the quick rhythmic sounds of a knife hitting a cutting board filter through the open door to their bedroom.

“Need any help?” he asks, padding down the hall to lean against the counter next to her.

Rey rolls her head from one side to the other, glancing at him before setting knife down gently. “Ben,” she sighs, turning to look at him fully; he grasps the hand closest to him and lifts it to his mouth, brushing a kiss along her knuckles. “Ben, please, I can’t-” Tears gather in her eyes and she swallows, breathing deeply to center herself. “You were shot, Ben.”

“Grazing.” He’s quick to counter.

“Yeah, well, they all aren’t.” And her hand pulls away to trace the scar on his shoulder, rough and round, before her other hand joins in, tracing the myriad of scars that are peppered across his torso. “What happens when it isn’t grazing? When you actually get hit somewhere vital and can’t make it home to me? What happens when I’m not there to patch you up?”

“Rey,” he starts before he flounders, not knowing what to say, “Rey, that won’t happen.” Gentle thumbs wipe away the tears that crest the apple of her cheeks. “I swear to you, Rey, I’ll always come back to you.”

Rey rallies, pulls herself up to her full height and grips the sides of his face, pulling him down to her. “ _One_ more job, and then I want you _out_. If that snake wants money I will get him the money, if it’s something else we’ll figure that out, but you are _mine_ , Ben Solo, and I’m not letting him take you from me, not again.”

He kisses her then, desperate and needy as his arms twine around her waist, pulling her closer as her hands find purchase in his hair. Rey - his beautiful Rey, so brave where he is cowardly, so strong where he is weak, a balm to his soul - he will do anything to stay with her. He is hers, just as she is his.

“One more job,” he says as he pulls away, and it’s an unspoken promise that she recognizes with a nod, tracing the jagged line that bisects his face. She smiles up at him and he presses a kiss to her forehead.

“How about you get the wine while I finish this up, then we can maybe watch that movie we’ve been meaning to watch.”

“That sounds nice,” he says, and he means it as his hand drifts down over her shoulder and arm to her elbow, brushing against the scar on her shoulder from her one and only run-in with Snoke, long before they met. His gaze lingers on it, and he knows what has to be done.


	6. Your Name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 6: Soulmates

Not for the first time in her life, Rey sent a glare at her wrist, hidden by decorative leather straps. There was a name buried there, had been since she turned thirteen and it appeared. That was the thing right? You got a name on your arm at thirteen if you had a soulmate, but most people would say, _if you were lucky_. Rey thought it was stupid. Several billion people in the world and she was expected to track down some guy just because his name was written on her arm? Hard pass. His name had been BenOrgana-Solo when it first appeared, but shortly after her sixteenth birthday it had changed, and the name now read Kylo Ren. He sounded like a pretentious ass, no matter what name he had.

The name on her skin suddenly changing three years after it appeared had sent her into a tailspin of panic. She didn’t know anyone that it had happened too and all of her friends thought she was crazy until she showed them proof; strangers definitely thought she was crazy when she tried to casually enquire about soulmate-marks changing. It took several days of pouring through everything her local library had on soulmate-marks with Finn, as well as outsourcing a few tomes for research that they finally found reference to it. It wasn’t very common, only a handful of proven cases, and Rey still didn’t know what to think of it, she was just glad she wasn’t the first person this happened to.

“Rey.” She looked up to find the amused gaze of her closest friend, Finn, “bell rang. Daydreaming again?” he teased, scooping up her backpack from the back of her chair to hand it to her once she gathered her stuff from her desk. “I mean, I know we only have a two weeks left until graduation, but you should at least _try_ to look like you’re paying attention, especially in Holdo’s lecture.”

“Ugh, I know, just one of those days.” Rey plucked her backpack from his hands and slung a strap over her shoulder as they ascended the stairs of the lecture hall.

“You still on for study group with Rose, Poe and I later?”

“Sure, I have a short shift at the shop, but I’ll be over after.” Finn flashed her a thumbs up and then jogged off to his next class while Rey left for her apartment and a change of clothes for work.

It was a slow afternoon and she was deep in the engine that Unkar wanted scrapped for parts when the garage bay door next to her started to rumble and lift. She withdrew from under the hood and poked her head out of the door as it rose above her head.

“Rey will be more than happy to take care of you, won’t you, girl?” Unkar grumbled, waving dismissively at her before retreating into the offices.

She rolled her eyes at her boss, wondering how he kept things running when she wasn’t around. “Oh shit,” she drawled. “Is that seriously a ‘77 Falcon? And it still runs?” The engine gave a sputtering cough before the car fell silent. “Answered my own question, okay.” Her eyes dance between the two men who had exited the vehicle, both tall, father and son probably, she thinks. The driver is rugged looking, beard is nothing but neglected 5 o'clock shadow, with grey hair and an intense gaze. The passenger, definitely the son, she decides, recognizing the same eyes, dark and intense, is taller than most men she’s met and he’s got a head of hair she’d pay good money to tousel. 

“You’re Rey?” the younger one speaks, looking wary.

“Last time I checked, and since I was born.”

He opened his mouth to say something else, but his father cuts him off. “Nice to meet you, Rey, I’m Han, it’s great to come across someone who appreciates this fine specimen of a car.” 

Rey gripped his hand and shook it, snorting in amusement. “Oh, sorry, I don’t know how to say this nicely - your car is a piece of shit, that was disbelief.” Han’s face fell and she heard his son smother a laugh. “I can still fix it though,” she amends, eyeing the now faintly smoking car, “let me just grab some paperwork, come on in.”

They followed her into the garage and she pulled a clipboard from the workbench before leaning back against it and scribbling some notes down. “So, you worked here long?” Han asked and Rey glanced up at him before giving him a nod. “That’s good, I like to try to take care of her on my own, but this happened while we were out.”

“God, that sucks, breaking down near here.”

“Tell me about it, we were just passing through, but you guys have good reviews.” Rey snorted at this, knowing Unkar spent more time than one should making fake accounts in various places just to review his own business, “So, uh, Rey, you got a soulmate?” 

“You normally ask that question of strangers?” she grunted, looking past them at the car, the minimal smoke was now gone, which was good, she could start working on it sooner than later.

“Well, no, but - ah - I couldn’t help but notice your interesting choice of accessory, especially when you’re working in a place with heavy machinery.”

“Haven’t lost my hand yet,” she smiled wide and flipped the clipboard over to him, “just need you to sign on the dotted line stating that you accept us assessing the damage to your car and that it’s not an agreement of payment and blah, blah, you get a copy to keep.”

“How long until we know the damage?” Han asked, eyes skimming the document.

Rey twisted to look at the giant clock that hung on the wall and frowned. “If you want a rough estimate, I could have it for you in an hour or so, if you’re really in a rush. Tomorrow would be better, I can call you around 3?” 

“Sounds good,” Han handed the clipboard back and Rey tore off the top portion to give back for his records, “Oh, you know what, I might be in a meeting then.”

“I can leave a message.”

“No, no, if I can’t answer, I need someone to give you permission to start work right away,” he nudged his son with his elbow, “kid, give her your number.”

Said ‘kid’ shoved his hands deep in his pockets and tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling, with a sigh he rattled off a series of numbers. Rey quickly scrawled under his father's, pulling up short when she read Han’s last name. She cleared her throat, “You have a name?”

“Kylo.” Rey looked up quickly, glaring at him, as he lowered his chin to glare back, “What? You got a problem with my name?”

Rey shook her head but Han guffawed, “Kid, everyone has a problem with your name, it’s a ridiculous name.”

“It’s not a ridiculous name.” Kylo countered as Rey placed the clipboard back on the workbench to scratch at the skin and name hidden beneath the leather straps wrapped tight around her wrist. _There was no way._

“Keys?” Rey asked, voice coming out in a barely there breath.

“You alright?” Han asked, handing them over.

“Oh, yes, fine, yup, fine, just - I have finals next week, so I was just thinking about that, and I mean, sorry, that’s not something either of you care about, so I have these now,” she jiggled the keys in her hand, before placing them down on top of the paperwork, “and that means you two are free to go. You’re more than welcome to head through that door and wait in the office for a ride.”

“That won’t be necessary, our Uber is on it’s way, we can wait outside.” Kylo said to the room at large, double checking his phone.

Rey nodded, still fidgeting with her straps, feeling nealy on the edge of a panic attack “Okay, well, it was nice meeting you both. We’ll talk soon.” Han flashed her a roguish grin before turning and walking out of the garage, Kylo lingered and she frowned at him before he stuck out his hand, Rey hesitated for only a moment before she put her hand in his, “It was nice meeting - hey!” she shrieked, trying, and failing to pull her hand away when his opposite hand clamped down on her wrist and made short work of the leather straps guarding it.

“It _is_ you,” he gasped, eyes going wide at the dark letters that marked her inner wrist before he flipped his hand over next to hers, revealing her own name.

For so long now, Rey had been able to pretend that this soulmate-mark on her wrist was nothing, would never amount to anything; but here she was, fingers shakily tracing the letters that spelled out her name on someone else’s skin. It wasn’t just her hand, she realized, after a moment, but her whole body was shaking. “This is crazy.” Rey murmured, mostly to herself, but Kylo hummed in agreement, making her look up at him. His eyes were wide, swimming with emotion as he pursed his lips. “You know,” she started with a whisper, “I cannot _believe_ you changed your name, do you _know_ how hard it is to change soulmate-marks?! Do you know how much I freaked out over this? Fucking rude.” She jerked her hand out of his grasp and backed away from him.

Kylo swallowed and Rey thought she saw the corners of his lips twitch. “To be fair, I had no idea they could change.”

“Well, congratulations, idiot, now you know. If you really want to report it, we’ll be one of only fifteen other soulmates that have had this happen to them.” Rey grumbled, quickly rewrapping her wrist. 

“Do you want to go out sometime?” Kylo asked, almost shy, hands now back in his pockets as Rey stared him, thrown off guard by the question.

“Hey kid!” Han called, making them both jump, “quit bothering her, I don’t need you saying something that will make her absolutely kill the old girl. Car’s here.”

“Well, Rey Jakkuson, you have my number, whenever you have an answer.” Kylo smirked, while taking one step, two steps back before turning and jogging from the garage to meet his ride.

Rey remained rooted to the spot until Unkar appeared sometime latter, banging around and shouting that he paid her to work, not daydream. She grunted, before snatching up the keys to the falcon and the contract. Unkar stomped back into his office only after he watched Rey sink into the driver's seat to get the car into the garage. She sat there a moment, taking it in, smiling at the gold dice dangling from the rearview mirror as she dug her phone from her pocket. Triple checking that the number she was sending a message to was the right one, she typed out her reply.

 _Yes_.


End file.
